Intel Set-Top Box No Show At CES Despite Boastful TV Dreams

In March 2012, Intel Corp. surprised everyone with their plans to enter the pay TV arena by the end of the year, but 2012 came to an end and Intel’s web TV service is still a no show. According to sources familiar with the matter, Intel hasn’t given up hope in launching the service, it was just pushed back to mid-2013 or late in the fourth quarter. As for the cause of the delay, it seems like they are having a hard time in “reaching content-licensing agreements with entertainment companies that own major TV channels.”

The news about Intel’s TV plans had been revived as CES 2013 draws near. But sources stated that the company will be launching new chips for PCs and mobile devices, and none for TV. Still, if the Intel TV is a no show at CES, there’s still lot of developments that have piqued our curiosity.

First off, the Intel TV is a set-top box manufactured by the company, and will likely be Intel-branded. What’s so intriguing about a set-top box you say? Well, the Intel box will be able to stream content to your TV, PC and mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. But that’s not their secret weapon, it’s the people Intel Media hired to help them sell the product. They’ve brought on Sean Ludick, who helped Jawbone get their speakers and headsets on the shelves of retail giants like Best Buy, Costco and Walmart, and Courtnee Westendorf, who managed Apple’s global marketing for iPhones and iPods.

But as I’ve said earlier, don’t expect Intel’s set-top box at the CES 2013. That doesn’t mean we can’t be on the lookout for some cool developments in the TV space, however.

Samsung will be showcasing their smart TV evolution kit at CES this year. The evolution kit will transform 2012 Samsung Smart TVs to 2013 Smart TV by simply attaching the Evolution Kit to the back of the 2012 Smart TV to enjoy the latest features of 2013 Smart TVs.

The Evolution Kit brings “hardware enhancements, such as CPU, memory and GPU up to the level of the latest Smart TV, users can enjoy faster speeds for browsing the Internet and multitask by using apps while watching TV.”

As for LG, aside from showcasing high definition displays for mobile devices, they’ll also be bringing a Google-powered line of TVs. The LG CINEMA 3D Smart TV lineup includes enhanced Smart Share feature, which offers the ability to transfer content from smart devices to LG Smart TVs via WiDi and Miracast. But the most interesting feature of the TV is that it comes with NFC stickers to enable faster media sharing between two devices with “Tag On.” Users simply hold an NFC-enabled device against the NFC sticker on a CINEMA 3D Smart TV, and voila, hassle-free pairing and content-streaming.